3of4Malik Jefferson (46) and Malcolm Raoch put a stop on Kyle Hicks in the first half as Longhorn coach Charlie Strong leads his team against TCU at DKR Stadium on November 25, 2016.Photo: Photos by Tom Reel / San Antonio Express-News

4of4Texas’ Malik Jefferson prepares for a play during the first half against Iowa State on Oct. 15, 2016, in Austin.Photo: Michael Thomas /Associated Press

Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando has a serious restoration project on his hands.

Orlando is inheriting a unit that in Charlie Strong's final season ranked 60th in turnovers gained, 90th in scoring defense and 94th in total defense

In two seasons under Orlando Houston ranked 53rd and 13th, respectively, in total defense, boasting a top-10 run-stopping unit in each campaign.

But Orlando isn't in the American Athletic Conference anymore. Crafting schemes to slow the Big 12's spread offenses is a trickier task than halting UConn or Tulane.

"Especially in this league, the creativity by offenses, formations, the things that go on, I just believe personally that if you sit there and take it they'll eat you up," Orlando said during a recent appearance on the Longhorn Network.

Orlando espouses an aggressive, "attack style" based out of the 3-4. The idea, Orlando says, is to force offenses into uncomfortable situations – particularly long third downs – by bringing pressure and keeping the opposing offense perplexed.

"We base out of the 3-4, but we do play a decent amount of four down," he said. "It's all depending on who we're playing, what fits our personnel. I'd like to be in the range of 70-30, three down to four down, but there will be some times where we're 60-40. It depends. It gives us a lot of flexibility."

Orlando's scheme leans heavily upon his two inside linebackers.

Matthew Adams and Steven Taylor, Houston's starting inside linebackers last season, finished 1-2 in total tackles and combined for 19.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.

"The Mac is the quarterback of the defense," he said. "There are a lot of things that he'll say and he'll call and he's got to be a thumper, he's got to be able to hold point.

"For our rover position, our weakside guy, he's a playmaker. It's a very productive position in terms of being able to get to the quarterback, put pressure on and do those things."

Despite Texas' recent defensive failings, Orlando has plenty of talent to use as clay, including junior Malik Jefferson and incoming junior college linebacker Gary Johnson.

"I think Malik will have a great chance," Orlando said. "He reminds me of a couple of guys that I've coached in the past. Malik is explosive. I've had great talks with him. I'm getting to know him. Just to get with him and talk with him, for him to understand the expectation, that's the biggest part.

"The one guy that I'd like to see come in, because he's a junior college guy, is Gary. I think Gary can come in here and give us the leadership, the hardness part of it."